Virtuality
by TheCandyCup
Summary: Ashley has always wanted to be a Star in the Cosmos Games, but will her desire tear her friendships, and what happens when she meets her biggest fear. And what if she realizes her feelings? Will she win or will she be stamped out on history as a failure? Don't worry, the story is much better than the summary!
1. Eligibility

**+-Hey guys! This is my new Hunger Games story, It's not going to have the exact same rules, actually it going to be almost completely different.**

**Enjoi! ^.^**

* * *

**Ashley's Pov**

"WELCOME STARS, TO THE CENTENNIAL!

WE SHALL CELEBRATE THE START OF THE 100th COSMOS GAMES.

...NOW!"

The bright colored light came on, flashing rapidly all around, so bright it probably attracted people from about seven miles away, and all the aliens in the sky. I looked up to the crowds from my podium, tomorrow would be first day in the arena. Everybody was excited, after the three weeks of intense training.

So, are you wondering how I got to be Star of an Elite virtual reality games?

Well, it all started like this.

* * *

Finally! I'm 15 now and eligible for the Cosmos Games! My Mom promised me and my brother than the day after our birthday, she would register us. I'm soooo excited! Since I was like, 2, I wanted to be a Star! My Mother, being a victor of the Games, wanted me to participate. I waited until she was done with breakfast, then I went to get my brother, Ashton.

"Yo, idiot, wake up, we're going to register!" I yelled into his door.

"Alright, I'm up, I'm up!" He yelled back.

He's so lazy, even if he is picked to go into the Games, he would be out at the Sendback, or, by the first day at least.

So, by the 20 minutes it took for him to get dressed and ready, and to grab a granola bar, me and Mom were already in the craft.

"Well, it took you long enough." Mom muttered as she pressed the identification button.

We lived in a small section of Nova, called Sparkle City. Yes, haha, we lived in a place called Sparkle City. Have your chuckle, but once I become a Victor, everyone who called me SparkleGirl will die!

Anyway, when we got to City Hall, we went into the main register building, once we registered our names, we got the registration holograms to fill out.

I looked over the hologram, Favorite color? Favorite food? What kind of questions are these? I filled it out anyway, then turned it in.

They told me to go to the medical records building to get checked. Apparently one time, someone had built a robot and sent it into the Games, well tried to. When they sent the robot's conscience into the arena, it crashed the systems, they didn't have the Games for 2 years.

They had to check my body, take samples of my blood, do background screenings, brain wave tests, and other techno-geeky stuff.

When we were done, they had me sit in this little waiting room, with another door opposite of this one, probably the interview room.

It wasn't long before Ashton walked in. We stared at each other for a good 10 minutes before he spoke.

"My hologram is better than yours." He said.

"That doesn't even make sense." I said.

"Yeah it does." He insisted.

"No, it doesn't"

"Yeah-huh."

"Nuh-uh."

"...what are we talking about?"

"I don't remember."

"Hmm, oh well. It sure is quiet." He said as he looked around. It sure was, there were only 2 other people in the room.

Some blonde lady came out and called my name. "Ashley?"

I got up and walked to the room, the inside was soothing, a nice creme color. There was a small desk in the middle, and a door on the right of the desk. I realized that everybody who went into the room didn't come out.

After I was done with the realization, I looked at the large, tall chair that didn't fit in with the small room. It swiveled around, and there sitting in the chair, was Queen Nova herself.

"Hello." She said.

I said something really intelligent like, "Uh, Ugh, Umnn."

"So, shall we get started?"

"Oh, Uhm, Yes." I said, and took a seat.

We went through many questions, such as, "What would it mean to you to be a Star in the Games?", you know, basic stuff.

The Queen was really nice, she really understood and listened to what I had to say.

When we were done, she had me exit through the door. It led down a hallway that turned right.

I walked out of the hallway and back into the Main Office, where my Mom was.

"Oh, well, that was faster than when I had to do all that." She said.

"Well, that was like, 50 years ago." I snickered.

"No, it was only 22 years ago." My Mom said, she had been a Star in the 78th Cosmos games, but she didn't win. She kept competing till she became a victor in the in the 82nd. my poor, poor mom. She tried for five years before winning.

One of the only reasons she won, was because the other Stars were idiots. She was easily able to outsmart the other 31 people in the tournament designed Games, Everyone who had watched that year said it was the best.

Now you might think that the Games were complicated, but there really are only only three ways of play.

There is Standard, where 18 Stars are selected and put into a digital Arena where they fight to the Virtual Death.

Then, there is Tournament, it usually has 32 Stars that fight in one-on-one matches, 16 on day 1, 8 on day 2, and so on.

Then there is Teams, generally teams of 2, but there has been one year where they picked 50 Stars and sets them on two teams, that year was awesome.

There are also the completely random ones, like the year they only picked 7 people, and set a invincible man killer loose. The Stars had to use their wits to survive, and that one year where they had an actual game show, and if you didn't know the answer, you were out.

Sound fun, right!? That's the reason I want to Star! For the love of the Games. But, there were many people that took those Games too seriously. Ones that have gone crazy.

Anyway I'm rambling, so lets get on with it. After my brother came out of his interview, our Mom took us to the Shops, which was just a building that has a lot of stores inside of it. Like food courts, and plushie stores, and a weapon store, yeah, stuff like that.

So we met a few of our friends, Mandy, Princess, Gabe, and, Levi. But there were two more people there. We walked over there. We said hello to the new guys, they were older than us, definitely, but one of them looked familiar. I went up to the raven haired boy.

"Uhm, Ello, Lass." He said with an english accent.

I almost fainted when i heard him, not only was he cute he had the best accent ever. I got over it when I realized how I recognized him. "Hey, you were in the last Games." I said. "You teamed up with Gabe!"

"Well, yes I did team up my mate over there." He responded, nodding towards Gabe.

"But, you didn't win?" I asked.

"Well, no I didn't, back then, killing wasn't really my cup o' tea" He looked down. I thought I should push the subject, but he was really cute, and I wanted to talk to him. But, there will be other times.

"I have to go to the bathroom," I announced.

"Then go." Mandy said, breaking away from her face-vacuum makeout with Gabe.

I walked to the bathroom. went into a stall and hit the mirror fingerpad. one slid out of the wall. I looked at myself, was I not attractive? Or maybe because I was too young, no I didn't look that young. I ran my finger through my blonde hair, I kind of missed my long hair. Now it was only about to the end of my shoulder blades.

I looked back into my blue eyes, thinking of all the possible reasons he didn't like me.

I know I shouldn't like him, I don't even know his name.

I walked back out into the food court, and I saw they were gone. Then my butt vibrated. I took out my Zip, it expanded showing Ashton's message.

_Going to the weapons' store._

So, I walked by myself to the weapons' store, which was on the other side of the Shops.

So when I got there I went into the store. All the guys were fawning over the weapons, except that one guy, and that other guy. And of course Mandy was in the corner, playing with her sleeve, but oh well, we all have that one friend.

Sound fun, right!? That's the reason I want to Star! For the love of the Games. But, there were many people that took those Games too seriously. Ones that have gone crazy.

Anyway I'm rambling, so lets get on with it. After my brother came out of his interview, our Mom took us to the Shops, which was just a building that has a lot of stores inside of it. Like food courts, and plushie stores, and a weapon store, yeah, stuff like that.

So we met a few of our friends, Mandy, Princess, Gabe, and, Levi. But there were two more people there. We walked over there. We said hello to the new guys, they were older than us, definitely, but one of them looked familiar. I went raven haired boy.

"Uhm, Ello, Lass." He said with an english accent.

I almost fainted when i heard him, not only was he cute he had the best accent ever. I got over it when I realized how I recognized him. "Hey, you were in the last Games." I said. "You teamed up with Gabe!"

"Well, yes I did team up my mate over there." He responded, nodding towards Gabe.

"But, you didn't win?" I asked.

"Well, no I didn't, back then, killing wasn't really my cup o' tea" He looked down. I thought I should push the subject, but he was really cute, and I wanted to talk to him. But, there will be other times.

"I have to go to the bathroom," I announced.

"Then go." Mandy said, breaking away from her face-vacuum makeout with Gabe.

I walked to the bathroom. went into a stall and hit the mirror fingerpad. one slid out of the wall. I looked at myself, was I not attractive? Or maybe because I was too young, no I didn't look that young. I ran my finger through my blonde hair, I kind of missed my long hair. Now it was only about to the end of my shoulder blades.

I looked back into my blue eyes, thinking of all the possible reasons he didn't like me.

I know I shouldn't like him, I don't even know his name.

I walked back out into the food court, and I saw they were gone. Then my butt vibrated. I took out my Zip, it expanded showing Ashton's message.

_Going to the weapons' store._

So, I walked by myself to the weapons' store, which was on the other side of the Shops.

So when I got there I went into the store. All the guys were fawning over the weapons, except that one guy, and that other guy.

I went up to them, "Hi." I said.

"Well, 'ello again, Lass." He smiled.

"I'm Ashley." I said, sticking my hand out.

I went up to the two guys, "Hi." I said.

"Well, 'ello again, Lass." He smiled.

"I'm Ashley." I said, sticking my hand out.

"I'm Jonny" He said, smiling again.

"Zane." His friend said, smiling.

"WELL, WELL, WELL. WELCOME TO THE PRE GAMES PEP UP!" I turned around to look at the large TV on the back wall.

"So, Sicily, how are you doing today?" Geoff said, kissing her hand.

"I am doing very well today, Geoff." Sicily answered.

"So, how are do you like being head Gamma?" Geoff asked.

"I love it. It's going to be very exciting to see how everyone reacts to this years Games." Sicily said.

"So, what is going to happen this year?"

"Well, we are not supposed to tell you this...but..." She paused for effect, I could almost hear all of Nova's citizens ears tuning to their TVs.

"...We are picking 100 Stars this year!" She said.

I looked at all my friends, all of my friends looked the same, excited.

100 people? That's almost five times the normal limit! There is no way I'm not getting in!

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**Soooo, how did you like it? Pleez let me know, Reviewz! They are almost as good as cookies...almost.**


	2. The In Crowd

**Hey guys! This is my new Hunger Games story, It's not going to have the exact same rules, actually it going to be almost completely different.**

**Enjoi! ^.^**

* * *

**Ashley's Pov**

Me and my friends were all talking now, how we all registered, we all knew there were slim chances we were _all_ getting in, but we could hope.

Then Mandy said, "Tomorrow's my birthday."

"Uh, we know." Gabe said to her, "How could we forget, you've been telling us for days."

Mandy looked at him, "You're _soooo_ sweet, Gabe." she rolled her eyes sarcastically.

We walked out of the weapons shop, and Jonny and Zane had to leave.

When the walked out of sight, we turned and started to talk. Everybody had registered, even Princess, the most peaceful, non-violent, loving person you could meet.

"I can't wait to shred some virtual booty!" Princess yelped.

We all stared at her.

"What? I can't be ruthless once in a while?" She said looking away.

"I just always guessed you wouldn't sign up for something so violent." I said.

"Well you were wrong." Princess stuck her tongue out.

"Do you wanna come over to my house tomorrow?" Mandy asked.

"Can I come over tonight?" Gabe wiggled his eyebrows.

"Nooooo." Mandy pushed his face away from hers.

Then my butt vibrated again, I took out my Zip, reading my Mom's message.

_Go to the sky bridge pick-up zone_

"Come on, Ashton, we have to go." I grabbed my brother's wrist, interrupting his lip-lock session with Princess.

"But, I'm not done with my sandwich!" He whined.

I don't think he just wants a sandwich.

"Come on _Lover Boy_, we gotta go." I pulled him farther along.

"I don't like you." He said.

"I don't care." I let go of him.

"Hmph."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOoO

"So, do you think you got in?" I heard from my doorway.

I looked over at my brother. "I hope so."

"..."

"Do you think I got in?"

"Yeah. You are like, one of those perfect players...ya know?"

"I don't know, I just...don't feel like I did enough." I looked down.

"Listen," Ashton walked over to my bed and sat down. "You made it, I mean, why wouldn't you make it?

"Because...I'm not tough enough?" I said.

"So what? You're athletic, you're smart, you've never been in major trouble."

"I just-"

"Just what?

"I don't know.

"So, what are you gonna do?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know alot of think...maybe you're not that smart."

"Get out."

He left peacefully, at least.

I walked to my bathroom, to get ready to go to Mandy's house.

When I was done, I stuck my earbuds into my head, and turned my Zip onto the music player.

As soon as we got to Mandy's front door, it swung open.

The music blasted us in the face as Mandy ushered us in.

I saw Gabe...a lot of Gabe, actually. But not his friend Jonny, or Zane, but i decided it was best not to ask where they were.

So, the party was fun, the people...not so much.

There had to have been at least 4 fights...that I saw. No telling how many I didn't see.

It was always like that at Mandy's party. She was a social butterfly. So. Many. Friends.

I admit I was less likable than alot of my friends, but I saw no need to have friends you didn't talk to.

...I sound sad.

So, I had a good time at Mandy's party watching people get kicked out. At the end of the party, only me, Levi, Gabe, Princess, and Ashton were left at her house.

Oh, and there was a bag of potatoes on the couch. Why? I have no idea, but when Mandy came out of the bathroom, she saw the potatoes and her eyes lit up.

"You guys! You got me potatoes? You shouldn't have!" She snatched up the potatoes and held them close to her chest.

"But...we didn't." Gabe said. I elbowed him in the ribs.

"How did you know I wanted a potato cart when I get older?" She smiled.

Princess got up and smacked the potatoes out of her hands, and they went flying everywhere.

"MY SPUDS!" Mandy fell to her knees. "MY POTATOES! YOU RUINED THEM! YOU KILLED MY POTATOOOOOOOOOOEEEES!" She screamed.

Princess yanked her up off the ground. "Shut up, we have more important stuff to evaluate." She turned to us. "Who here interviewed for the Games?" All hands went up.

"Okay, cool, but you guys know that we're probably not all going to get in." She suggested.

"Yeah, but what if all of us did?" Levi asked.

"Then that would be cool. Awesome. Unbelievable. Supercalifragal-"

Okay, Mandy we get it. Cool." I said.

"Okay. What's the point of this?" Ashton asked.

"The point is...I don't know what the point is." Princess said.

It was pretty silent after that.

Eventually we heard snoring. We looked over to Gabe slumped over the side of the couch.

"Ah, let's draw on his face!" Mandy said, and jumped up to get a a pen.

When she got back, she wrote _NO ME GUSTA_ across his forehead.

The next person to drop was Levi. I wrote _Fag_ across his cheek.

Then Ashton fell asleep. Princess wrote.._.alot_ of profanity all over his face.

I felt the exhaustion rack my body. I tried to stay awake, I only had to outlast two more people.

I don't remember falling asleep, but I remember waking up with _Lesbo_ written on my temple.

I was offended. I guess Princess fell asleep after me, because Mandy's face was clean.

Then, there was chaos trying to get to the bathroom, because everyone woke up at basically the same time.

I won.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

After everyone was washed up, Mandy switched on the news. Yeah, alot of teens watch the news this time of the year, because there was announcement on the Games.

The were going to pick all the contestant the next day, which was weird. The Games weren't for another month.

I got really nervous after that, and kind of jittery.

So jittery that, at one point when Levi touched my shoulder and said, "Hey," I turned around and punched him in the stomach.

Yeah, I was tweaking.

I felt like I had taken acid and Coke...at the same time...while on a sugar rush.

It was kinda awesome.

I couldn't sleep that night.

When I finally fell into a subconscious parallel, it was an on and off thing.

Then I woke up. I. Was. FREAKING. Out.

Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod.

What if I don't make it?

So me and Ashton made our way downstairs and turned on the television.

Okay...just to be honest I will admit that I was hyperventilating. It wasn't like, if I wasn't picked I wouldn't get another chance.

But, It was the hundredth anniversary of the Cosmos Games!

Okay let's do this.

"And...the moment you've all been waiting for..." Geoff moved out of the way so we could see the special effects screen.

They do this spectacular thing where they photoshop your skin so that it's blemish free and even-toned.

They also show you name in colorful letters below your picture.

The first face we saw? Princess'. We all cheered for her.

It was a while before we saw another familiar face...and guess whose perfectly makeup'd face it was? Destiny's.

I wrinkled my nose in distaste. I don't like her...at all.

The next face was Levi's. I almost died. I was really happy for him.

A few faces later Mandy flew past. Another cheer. Halfway done.

25 left...10 left...they slowed down.

Last face...I knew me or Ashton weren't going in together...we might not go in at all.

...Then the last face flew up to the screen.

Ashton.


End file.
